Madster Court battle continues
Madster Court battle continues
By Ciarán Tannam – Slyck
Johnny Deep and Madster have been involved in a long running legal battle against the RIAA and MPAA. Having lost their case at local and appeal level, the case was recently appealed to the US Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court is currently in the process of reaching a decision on whether there should be a hearing in the case. In the meantime, Johnny Deep gains support for his Supreme Court battle as a key court conference looms.
After the writ of certiorari (a call for the case to be heard) was filed in October, Johhny Deep tried unsuccessfully to get the appeal court stay lifted. This would have allowed the Madster service to resume pending the outcome of the case.
When Johnny Deep sought support for his last appeal case the EFF, Grokster and others came to his support. This time support has been filled by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Eric Flint and others. Johnny Deep has also been able to secure legal representation.
The RIAA were expected to respond to Madster’s motions in early December.
It seems at this stage that they’ve waived that right. The next important date in this case will therefore take place on January 9th, 2004, where a key court conference will take place.
Aimee Deep, daughter of Johnny Deep, told Slyck that they expect a decision on whether the supreme court will hear the case early next year.
Should the case reach trial, it would be the first P2P legal case to reach this level and would carry a huge amount of legal precedent for P2P developers.
